Chelsea handed bizarre choice after Conference League win due to little-known UEFA rule

Chelsea will seemingly have a surprising decision to make after their victory in the Conference League final.

The claimed a 4-1 victory over Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday night. Abde Ezzalzouli opened the scoring for the Spanish club before goals from, , and won the trophy for Chelsea.

In the process, became the first club to win all three major European trophies with the , Europa League and now the Conference League.

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The victory at the Wroclaw Stadium on Wednesday night rounded off a successful season for Chelsea, which also saw the club clinch qualification for the Champions League.

side finished fourth in the Premier League which was enough to qualify for next season's Champions League. The Blues will join Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur in the competition for next season.

However, despite already qualifying for the Champions League, victory in Poland on Wednesday leaves Chelsea with a decision to make.

The win over Betis in the Conference League also saw the Blues earn qualification for the Europa League, as is the case for the winner of the competition. Chelsea's qualification for the Champions League, though, leaves them with a decision on which competition to compete in next term.

ESPN have reported that Chelsea can choose whether to compete in the Champions League or the Europa League next season, with the expectation being that the Blues will be in the Champions League.

This, the report states, is due to a clause in UEFA's rules that protects teams in lower-ranked leagues for European competitions who would have to go through qualifying rounds for the Champions League.

In Chelsea's case, though, they will qualify for the league phase of the tournament straight away, making it an easy decision to make for the Stamford Bridge hierarchy.